The Last Alternative
by thirdmetaphor
Summary: After an assassination attempt is made on Mikasa to retrieve information, Levi realizes that the Scouting Legion can no longer trust the insides of Wall Sina with their backs. He takes his squad towards the only hope humanity has left: Eren's basement.
1. Chapter 1

**The Last Alternative**

**AN:** We may not know the actual truth behind the Titans, but I have a theory that I will use in this fic. On that note, it's technically mostly spoiler-free since you can't tell the difference between what's been released in the manga and what I'm taking creative license with. Well, unless you don't know the identities of the Colossal and Armored titans.

**Pairings: **Some Levi/Mikasa, though the pairing will not be the focus of the story. Hints of French Fries (Jean/Sasha).

**Genre: **Suspense/Action/Mystery.

* * *

The moment she walked in, there were hands clutching at her sides. Mikasa lashed out intuitively, but they had been preparing for her every move, and sometimes the cleverness of humanity was a lot more dangerous than the strength of the titans. She felt herself being thrown into a chair, arms held down by some kind of curtains were drawn shut and the room darkened before she could see their faces.

"Quick, get the ropes!" The voice to her right yelled. Mikasa processed it immediately: female, twenties or thirties, medium-to-tall in height. Judging from the feel of the hands suddenly tying her arms, the second one was male.

She remained quiet while they tied her to the chair, only because she had never been used to screaming. They'd tried to sell her to the black market once and she hadn't uttered a word. Despite that, Mikasa could still feel herself shaking from fear. She'd always found it strange when the rest of the Scouting Legion called her fearless. She wasn't fearless. Fearlessness was for fools that got killed. She just wasn't afraid of titans, because there were better things to be afraid of. Like humans.

"All right, kiddo," the male voice to her left spoke as she squinted at him in the darkness. "Listen, we need to make this quick. You're going to tell us what happened out there. You're going to mention everything that Commander Erwin conveniently failed to write in his report."

Mikasa didn't say a word, but she could feel their eyes fixed on her. She looked down at the dark floor, trying to adjust her eyes to the dim light enough to see their faces. Apart from the two that had restrained her, there were three others in the room. She could hear their breathing.

The female voice sighed. "We should probably mention that we are not going to guarantee you your life in any way. In fact, we have to leave your corpse behind. You can decide whether it will be a pretty corpse or an ugly one."

They spoke with a very distinctive dialect. Mikasa tried to remember where she'd heard it, but all she could conclude was that they weren't from Wall Maria, where everyone spoke in the same uneducated lilt that she once had.

"Are you sure about that?" The voice went on, and suddenly they downturned her left hand on the chair, and there was something sharp at the point where her skin met her fingernail. "We already know that someone as young as you will start talking after a single fingernail. But you'll be in pain while you talk, and we'd much rather prevent that."

Mikasa gritted her teeth and forced herself to calm down, but she realized that there would be a larger chance of the rest of the Scouting Legion finding out if she held them at bay for a while. "Why do you want to know?" She asked quietly.

The knife inched further under her nail. "Those are private matters, girl. Nothing you need to be concerned about."

She tried again. "Do you know who I am?" It would be beneficial to know if they'd targeted her in particular, or if their goal had just been someone under Erwin's command who had been at Castle Utgard. And if they answered no, there was also a possibility that Eren was in the same position, in which case she would have to take a risk.

"Sure we do," the man scoffed. "Do you think we'd just _happen _upon the one person equal to a hundred soldiers in skill? It's too bad titan-fighting is a very narrow range of talent."

So they knew. Mikasa almost sighed in relief, because that meant Eren was safe. Having ascertained that, she fell back into silence again.

"Ok, let's make this a more organized procedure. How much does your group know about the walls? Did that 'Pastor Nick' of yours end up talking?"

She frowned. That was a strange question to ask. Mikasa had no idea where Pastor Nick was, and she'd only barely heard of the man's existence through Hanji's rambling. These people were assuming that she was privy to all their secrets because of her skill. The thought almost made her smile, because Corporal Levi didn't find it particularly useful to go around preaching all the knowledge he gained.

"I don't know."

She could almost hear his frown.

"Listen, kid, you're going to die here anyway. You're at the farthest end of the inn, and we have people installed downstairs to prevent any onlookers. No one will hear you, and there's no one you have to pretend to be loyal to. So loosen up and prevent yourself some pain."

Mikasa stopped listening and turned her attention to wondering who they were. They acted with all the decorum of street-thugs, but their dialects were well-refined and they were interested in what the Commander had left out, which meant they were high-up enough to know what he _had _reported. Was this the military police? No, that was improbable. She had heard that Commander Erwin was in good relations with the head of the Military.

She didn't notice the glaring pain until the nail of her smallest finger clattered to the floor. The knife that had gotten rid of it was poised under her nose, allowing her to smell the metallic stench of blood. Mikasa bit her lip to stop the scream of pain, because it was slowly growing, starting from her quivering finger and spreading fire up her arm. She didn't want to know what the spot looked like.

"We did try. Are you going to start speaking?"

Mikasa opened her mouth to say she didn't know, but she realized that would only encourage them to kill her faster. Instead, she tugged furiously at the ropes, managing to partially tear a section of one.

Almost immediately, her stomach blared with pain from someone's kick.

"Stop struggling, we don't want to waste any more rope on you-"

She didn't see anything while doubled up and trying to ignore the pulsing pain in her finger and middle, but the curtains were suddenly spread open, and she had to blink spots from her eyes as light filled the room. Within seconds, someone else was kneeling behind her, working a blade at her ropes. She turned back quickly and looked into the calm eyes of Corporal Levi.

"Sorry I'm late, brat. Don't let any of them get away," he instructed, pushing her off the chair.

Mikasa nodded and clenched her fist, heading for the closest one. It was the man from before who had ripped off her fingernail, a middle-aged guy with his hair streaked in white, holding his knife with a new sense of fear. She ignored the blade and drew her fist into his stomach, sending him crashing into the opposite wall. The pain in her finger faded from the rush of adrenaline.

"Hey-"

She turned to kick the woman behind her, stopping her mid-speech. As her capturer collapsed, Mikasa looked sharply around the room. The three others were in equal condition by the door, and Corporal Levi stood over them, patting his hands clean on his harnesses.

He looked back. "Are they unconscious?"

She turned to look at the two she'd taken down. "They are." That was when she noticed what they were wearing. "Corporal, are these people-"

"There's no time to chat, we have to leave. The others are in the cart we've prepared, and your maneuver gear is already there too," Levi interrupted. He looked back down at the three men by his feet. "Now what should we do with these bastards?..."

Mikasa watched as he took out his blade and placed it almost carefully against the first one's throat. For a second, she was convinced that the Corporal would do it. The metal glinted against the soldier's skin, yellowed under the evening light from the window. But as she looked on, he withdrew his blade, eyebrows furrowed.

"Never could kill a man," he muttered under his breath. "We'll just leave them here, then. Seems harmless to let them know they've been outwitted."

"Corporal Levi, sir," she spoke up, walking over to the one closest to her and inching her fingers under his throat. "If it's preferred, I could-"

"Don't do it, shitty brat. That's not something kids are supposed to be doing," he barked. "Just follow me out. We'll leave them to pay the rent for your room. That's punishment enough in this shitty economy."

She nodded, pattering after him as he swung himself out of the window and onto the roof of the two-story inn. As they walked along the roof-tiles, the streets below were starting to empty themselves of the more respectable people. It was late, after all. The only denizens out were the robbers and the thieves who wouldn't think twice about two people walking across a rooftop.

"Corporal, why did-"

"I should apologize," Levi told her in a thoroughly unapologetic tone. "We knew that would happen. It's why we gave you this room, actually. We needed someone to act as bait for the central military police. You were the only one that wouldn't scream and alert the inn-owners."

"So that's who they were?" She questioned as they inched along the outsides of the drainage pipes. "The Central Military Police?" She held her aching finger tightly, applying as much pressure as possible to still the throbs of pain.

"Yes. Erwin and Hanji just reported that they've killed Pastor Nick, and that we should get out before they come after us," Levi leapt down to street-level at the back of the inn building. His shoes clicked against the cobblestones as he pointed to the horse-drawn cart against the opposite wall.

"That's our cart. Get in the back with the others – yes, Eren is in there – pull the blankets up, and stay quiet. Though since it's you, I don't think I need to reiterate that. You're the brat who stayed silent while getting her nail pulled off." His eyes shone with a temporary humor before hardening again. "Keep that pressure against your finger, I'll take a look at it later."

She nodded, feeling the adrenaline seep away as the pain slowly returned in full, and then paused. "Corporal Levi, where exactly… are we going? Won't the military police be on patrol?"

"That potato girl in your division knows some cottage in the middle of nowhere where we can go to replenish supplies," he drawled. "So that's where we're going, brat."

Mikasa hesitated, and looked across at the cart. A slight shift in the rough cloth covering the back indicated that the rest of their team was probably hidden underneath it. It would be a good disguise out of Wall Sina, but where were they going after that? It had only been a few hours since Wall Rose was declared safe, and there would be military eyes scouting every inch of it for weeks.

"What are we going to do after that?" She asked again.

Levi crossed his arms. "We're going to fix this mess we call our world. Somehow. The central division of the military police is after us, but we can't wait around like shitty-glasses recommends. We're going to do _something._"

* * *

This was born from my realization that there aren't many plot-fics in this fandom, and there needs to be, because it has such a great and playable plot.

Feedback? I'd like to know where people think this is going.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

"So… did any of you remember to smuggle food from the inn?"

"Sasha how can you even think of food at a time like this? We're all in-"

"I swear, Jean, if you knee me in the pants one more time-"

"Damn it Eren I'm sorry! It's kind of crowded in here, and I'm trying to give Mikasa her space. She's the one stuck against the side! She might get splinters."

Mikasa immediately felt around for Sasha's arm, and shifted closer to her. She wasn't the one who needed space, but Armin did. He's always been slightly claustrophobic, and lying down beside them under the rough blanket that had been thrown over the cart, he was probably in worse condition. He hadn't spoken a word through the trip.

"Why does Krista get to ride in the front with Levi, anyway?" Jean's whispering went on.

"Because she's the youngest-looking one of all of us, and the Corporal plans to pass her off as his daughter if we get stopped by the civilians," Armin finally spoke up. "There isn't any more space back here anyway so it was either her or Armin". His voice was slightly shaky and Mikasa felt bad for him, but they couldn't move too much without being discovered.

The clattering of horse hoofs on the cobblestone below was a steady constant that rattled on their every nerve. It had been almost four hours since they'd left the inn, and they hadn't left wall Sina. Their disguises meant they had to travel at the speed of an average civilian, and though Levi sat cursing under his breath at the front of the cart, hood pulled over his face in the sweltering heat, they couldn't go any faster.

Eventually, Mikasa found herself lulled to sleep. It was dark, and the night had fallen like a stone. They'd left the inn in the late evening, and now there was no longer anyone else out in the streets apart from them in their rattling horse-drawn cart. Sasha had already fallen asleep beside her, so she didn't resist the tiredness when it came, brought on by the dim pulsing left in her finger. She rested her head against the inside wall of the cart and slept to the fading sounds of Eren and Jean's arguing.

The next time she opened her eyes, their setting had changed completely and the rough sheets had been thrown off, allowing early morning light to stream in. Krista was gently shaking her awake. She sat up drowsily and looked around, noting that Eren and Sasha were waking up beside her.

"We're in wall Rose, I got us out of Sina with permission from Pixis. This is one of the villages that were destroyed by the titans a while ago. There aren't any people here and the military has already come to salvage the goods, but they usually aren't very thorough." Levi's dry voice informed them. "We'll rest here for a while."

The streets around were empty and ruined with debris and as she climbed out of the cart, Mikasa could almost smell the tangible leftovers of destruction. "Come on, Eren," she reached behind and tugged at her brother, who was barely conscious. "Wake up and get out."

"Yeah, I'm coming," he swung his leg out and fell flat on his face to the sound of Jean's laughter.

"Quiet, brats," Levi barked. He pointed at each of them. "Sasha, Jean, go with Armin to see if there are any supplies still left in the buildings. Krista and Eren, stay here with the horses. Mikasa, let me take a look at your hand."

"If there's three bites of food anywhere in the village, Sasha will find it," Jean grumbled as he followed her into one of the semi-collapsed buildings with Armin trailing behind.

After they'd left, Mikasa held out her hand, looking at her nail properly for the first time. The tip of her pinky finger now ended in pinkish flesh still stained with remnants of blood. It sent pain down her arm every time she flexed her hand.

Levi grabbed her hand and turned it over, pulling a thin sheet of bandages from the pocket of his uniform-coat. Without looking up at her, he wrapped it tightly around her finger, securing it with a knot that made her finger go numb.

"It won't grow back," he told her in his no-nonsense way. "But it'll stop hurting, and you don't look like a person too worried about what's unseemly. Do you know how to bandage?"

Mikasa nodded briefly. She'd grown up with Eren, after all.

"Good. Re-bandage this every morning, and keep it _clean. Clean, _get it? I don't care if we all die of fucking thirst; you're going to find clean water to wash it in. If you get some sort of shitty infection you'll only spread it to the rest of us."

"Yes, Corporal."

"Then you'll be fine," he said gruffly, releasing her hand. "Go help those idiots before they get buried in the debris."

As she left, Mikasa wondered why he was so uncharacteristically nice. Then she realized that he probably felt guilty for not arriving earlier.

* * *

They remained in Connie's home village until nightfall, scrounging up a small pile of food and rope and leftover metal to melt. After they'd scoured every inch of the village, they sat near the cart, packing them into the bags Levi had brought with him. Sasha spent two hours nibbling on a single dinner roll from their supplies, after she was told that they were rationing, and that it was the only one she'd get.

"Don't feel too bad for her," Jean explained to Krista. "She's never actually full."

"She'd better learn to be," Levi growled. "We have one more restock at the cottage she mentioned, and then we're heading straight out of the walls. And we need to get there at exactly one in the morning."

Eren blinked. "One in the morning? Why? Would it be better to start in the evening so the titans don't have the sunlight on their side?"

"We don't want any civilians seeing us carting the horses over, brat. It's the darkest hour of night." Levi stood up and brushed off his pants. "But that's true as well. We're going to spent an entire day on top of the walls and climb down the other side in the evening. And look, they're here." He squinted into the distance.

Mikasa looked up from her rations in the direction he was pointing, and managed to make out the faint outline of horses. She finished the rest in one gulp and walked to stand near him. "Corporal, that is-"

"Our supplier," he finished.

Eren looked over her shoulder. "Hey, is that Commander Pixis? Awesome, he's convenient."

"Only you'd ever call the Commander of the Garrison 'convenient'," Jean remarked.

The figure entered the sloping village in the distance, and they watched as he made his way slowly up the streets, followed by exactly seven horses that trailed after him like obedient dogs. In a matter of minutes, he reached them and swung off his horse. "Levi, glad to see you made it out of Sina without trouble."

"It was because of your plants, Commander," he acknowledged. "But why did you come here yourself? Couldn't you send someone from the Garrison? People will talk if they see the Commander of the Garrison walking through the sketchier parts of Wall Rose."

The older man rubbed his head tiredly. "Hmm, some of the members of the Garrison are too law-abiding for their own good." He paused. "I had a soldier named Hannes who would always volunteer for these things. He was a fine man and a great loss." He shot a brief glance toward Eren, who was clenching his teeth.

"Is that… food?" Sasha interrupted, drooling at the packages the other horses were carrying.

Pixis shook his head. "Food is too hard to smuggle out. Those are extra blades, which will be much more useful to your continued existence." She visibly drooped.

"Forget the shitty food, brat," Levi told her. "Commander Pixis, you should head back quickly. If you travel in the dark they won't catch you. Presumably."

He tilted his head. "Of course. This is all the fun an old man like me gets, I suppose. Give the titans hell, Levi."

"I'll make them shit out of their non-existent assholes," he promised.

* * *

"So. I ask Levi to provide me with backup, and I get… you." Within her hotel room in central, Zoe Hanji crossed her arms and frowned. She cast a long look at the younger boy standing before her.

Connie blinked. "Um, do you know why I was asked to come here? Cause I certainly don't. He just left me a note telling me to get my ass over here unless I wanted it set on fire. And it looks like everyone else disappeared, so…"

Hanji sighed. This was troublesome. She'd hoped to get Jean or Armin at the very least, because they both knew how to keep their mouths shut. But this kid seemed to be pretty talkative, and that wouldn't work at all for what she had planned.

"You're going to be working under me for a while," she explained. "You see, since the Central Military Police killed Pastor Nick, we've starting noticing a lot of things that just don't add up. And _I _suggested that we just lay low for a while and guard out backs before they get stabbed, but Levi doesn't like sitting on his butt, so Erwin gave them the OK to head off on their own while hiding their tracks."

Connie's jaw dropped. "Head where?!"

"To wall Maria. Where else, the dry cleaners?"

"They can't do that, there are titans in Wall Maria!"

"But they're all prepared to fight them as they come, and Commander Pixis is smuggling them horses for their journey as we speak," Hanji told him. "It's kind of all-or-nothing, but I trust Levi to keep Eren safe. And if he ever slips, Mikasa's with them."

"And they just left me behind?!" he flailed. "What am I supposed to do here in Central? There aren't any damn titans to kill here!"

"You'd be surprised," she said quietly.

He took a while to process that thought, feeling a familiar sense of dread. The possibility wasn't entirely absurd, since they'd already seen it happen with Reiner and Bertholt and Ymir. Humanity had only ever collectively cowered in fear before the Colossal and Armored Titans, but there were also those like Ymir whose secret had never come to light. They'd already been driven far, almost reified in the stump that was their commander's arm, and they couldn't afford to take any more lethal hits from their own side.

Finally, Hanji took pity on him. "Listen, I asked to get someone on his team because I can't do everything here by myself, and you guys are the only ones that know the truth about Krista so it had to be one of you. Our job is to going to keep the Military off their backs and do some recon while we're at it."

Connie frowned. "We're going to spy on the Military?"

"Yep. You'd better be quiet as a mouse, kid. If we mess up, it'll be Erwin's head under the block, and losing his arm was bad enough already." With that, she reached into the drawer beside the bed, drawing out a folded square of green cloth. "And take off that coat of yours, I've got something to replace it with. For now."

He eyes the embroidered cloth apprehensively. "I can't wear that. That's the MP uniform. I don't want a goddamn unicorn on my back."

She shrugged and threw it to him. "Get used to it, because that's where we're going to be until they get back from Wall Maria."

"We're… going to join the Military Police? But how?"

"Erwin decided to make a donation for the cause. We were the donation," she explained airily. "And we'd better be a good donation or we'll get kicked back out. This is the only way we can stay out of Scouting duty while we work."

Connie looked down at the MP uniform in his arms.

With a sigh, he reached up to remove the Wings of Freedom.

* * *

I've noticed that Levi is a lot more vulgar in the manga than he is in the anime. But maybe that's just because of the subs. My Japanese isn't good enough to tell, so I'll write him as he is in the English version of the manga.

Review? I'm aware that its still early in the plot, but feedback helps either way.


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